"I will. I look the most normal, so they won't think much of me." Jaina replied to the purple clad man sitting on the other end of the room.
"I'll come with, just to make sure they don't try anything funny. Star, you'll scout the Everfree, I want a full report by nightfall, got it?" Griffin said with finality, his yellow eyes growing as dull as a matte finish on a sports car.
"Of course, Master." Midnight Star said as she dissapeared in a puff of smoke.
"Okay then, let's go." Griffin said as he stood up and walked over to the door.
"What are we supposed to do?" Scarlet asked.
"Da." Rasputin added.
"Rasputin, I want you to start on those tele-pads to HQ. Scarlet, you can recon the town." Griffin commanded.
"I will." Rasputin complied as he went down into the basement.
"Sure thing." Scarlet said, putting on a set of flight goggles she took out of her jacket and walking out the door.
Jaina and Griffin stepped outside, they could just see Scarlet Streak flying closer to town center. "I think I saw a market over there." Jaina implied, pointing in the direction Scarlet just flew.
"Hmm." Griffin replied as he began walking in the direction Jaina pointed out.
As the two walked through town most people kept their distance, wether from fear or something else they didn't know. By now the clouds had bursted and a steady stream of water was pouring from the heavens.
"The Wingeds can't even keep the clouds in check." Griffin said as purple smoke seeped out from between the sports tape on his right arm, forming a shield above him and Jaina protecting them from the shower.
"Maybe a big harvest is coming up?" Jaina implied.
"I guess. But that's no excuse for crappy timing." He countered.
"Are you ever positive?" She half-joked.
"Expect the worst, hope for the best." Griffin simply said.
"I'll take that as a no." Jaina sighed. "What do we need?" She continued.
"I was thinking of something with potatoes? But that's only halve of the reason we stepped outside." Griffin answered cryptically.
"What else then?"
"Rift scouting." The purple man said.
"You mean for more Cards?" Jaina questioned.
"Not necesarily. But yeah."
"And what exactly are rifts anyway!?" The rainbow haired Winged One from before yelled as she appeared in front of the duo. "Are you spies?" She continued before she was pulled back by a woman with blonde hair and a stetson.
"Whoa there Rainbow, of course they ain't spies." The stetson wearing one said in a thick southern accent. "I don't believe we've met. Mah name's Applejack, you're Griffin right?" Applejack said as she stuck out her hand.
"Pleasure." Griffin said as he shook her hand.
"Strong grip there partner, few can match mine. How do you train?" Applejack continued.
"Classified." Griffin said as he walked off. The purple dome tearing in two, one half staying over Jaina, the other Griffin.
"What's with him?"The rainbow one said with a hostile expression.
"Just Griffin being Griffin. My name's Jaina by the way, nice to meet you." Jaina answered as she shook Applejack's hand.
"Rainbow Dash." The Winged One said, refusing to shake Jaina's hand.
"You're not very trusting are you? Smart." Jaina continued.
"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked, she didn't expect that one.
"My brother, all of us for that matter, can't be trusted." Jaina told with a grim expression.
"He's your brother? I wouldn't have thought, you two are so different." Applejack said with a puzzled look on her face.
"Yeah, I get that a lot." The long haired woman continued as she stared off into the distance with the same grim expression. A minute passed in silence.
"So, what are rifts?" Rainbow awkwardly asked.
"Classified. That's what they are." Jaina said sternly.
"Why?" Applejack and Rainbow Dash asked in synch.
"I've told you too much, I'm going to find my brother." And with that Jaina walked off.
"They're weird." Pinkie said as she appeared behind the two.
Jaina found her brother walking throught mainstreet with a bag of groceries in his left hand.
"What are we having for dinner?" She questioned.
"We're having potatoes, spinach and meat balls tonight." He answered.
"Yum, find any Rifts?"
"Only the smallest of 'em. Nothing out of the ordinary here." He answered.
"Dissapointing." Jaina said.
"Indeed." Griffin said as they walked back to the house. Griffin opened the door and the first thing he noticed was the magical smoke eminating from the basement door. He put the groceries on the counter and walked down into the basement. Jaina walked inside as the purple domes turned back into smoke and returned to Griffin's right arm.
"Ah Griffin! Succes my friend! I've created a stable Jump Pad to HQ just as you wanted." Rasputin said with hearty enthusiastic-ness in his voice.
"Both ways?" Griffin asked, an ever so small smile gracing his face.
"Da." Rasputin replied as he tinkered on a circular pad in the middle of the surprisingly spacey basement. "Just don't teleport bread. Is problematic." He warned.
"Not like I was gonna use it for that but okay. Good job Rasputin." Griffin said with appreciation in his voice.
Rasputin smiled in response.
Griffin and Rasputin walked back up to ground floor, Rasputin taking a seat in the living room, Griffin walking into the kitchen and starting to clean up the groceries to their specific spots.
Jaina sat in the living room as well, flipping through a book that Griffin and Jaina called: The Collection. It held all the Cards that the five of them owned but weren't using at the moment.
A few minutes later Scarlet Streak returned. "Nothing! Not even a mugging in progress! This town's the most peaceful place we've been to in ages!" She yelled in frustration.
"Normal people would consider that a good thing." Jaina sighed as she chose a particular Card from the Paladin section.
"Normal doesn't apply to us. It never has nor will." Scarlet replied.
"Indeed." Griffin spoke from the door frame leading to the kitchen. "Do you know what time it is Rasputin?"
Rasputin looked to the watch on his left wrist and spoke. "Four forty-seven pm, comrade. Why?"
"Midnight Star hasn't returned yet." Griffin said with just the tiniest amount of worry in his voice.
"Don't worry, it's not like anything can land a hit on her so what's the point if it?" Scarlet said.
"I guess." Griffin said, he was still worried though.
Midnight Star was not one to be late at, well, anything. She always managed to beat father time and make it back to HQ. It took an extreme amount of effort to even slow her down, mostly because she wasn't bound by the laws of space.
"Master, do I have permission to be blunt?" Griffin heard in his mind. He put his right hand to his right ear and spoke.
"Of course Midnight, speak up." He said over the mental radio.
"Thank you. I might have found the most beautiful lake in history! The only bad thing is that it's inhabited by a Sea Giant. Get over here and help!" Midnight yelled over the comms, causing Griffin to wince.
"Right away Midnight." He told her. He removed his hand from his ear and continued to the present three. "It looks like Midnight's found something. Jaina could you open a portal to Midnight's location?"
"Sure thing." Jaina replied as a leather bound box materialized on her right upper leg. She, without even looking, picked a Card from the Deck within the box. Unstable Portal, it was called. She activated the Card with her blue magic and a chaotic, blue portal opened up on the wall in the room.
Unstable Portal functions as a gateway through time and space, naturally such a feat is very dangerous, that's why it's unstable. As they walked through they could already hear the clashing of blades with stone.
The place they ended up in was a beautiful cave, many shining gems lined the walls. And in the middle of it all a just as beautiful sapphire blue lake lied. In which a massive green humanoid being stood. The Sea Giant was easily twenty feet tall, had a bushy green beard and wore shoulder pads made of sea shells and a dull yellow cloth around his waist, a brown belt with the steering wheel of a ship for a belt buckle held it up.
Midnight Star had already engaged the giant in combat, many different blades were flying through the air, they kept colliding with a slab of stone the Sea Giant was using as a makeshift shield.
Midnight poofed in and out of existence as she tried to look for an opening. But the giant had powerful senses and heard space rip where she would reappear, and -more quickly then anything it's size should be capable of- turned around to block the kunai and shuriken that were thrown at it.
Griffin instantly saw all this and started to think of ways to deal with a foe such as this. The Unstable Portal closing behind them.
"Jaina, freeze the giant solid." Griffin ordered. "Midnight! Get over here now!" He continued.
Midnight looked over to him and dissapeared, reapearing by them.
"Right!" Jaina complied as she took three cards out of the Deck on her leg. Two Water Elementals and a Spell, that being Frostbolt. She threw the two Water Elementals down on the ground. A cyclone of water burst out of the first one. The water forming a strong torso and two arms with golden shackles around the wrists. It's head had two golden eyes.
This process happened for both Cards.
The Water Elementals floated towards the Sea Giant and started throwing rapid punches at it. Everytime it tried to kill one of them they would just reform in mid-air. Everywhere they hit the giant ice would start to spread out. As a finishing touch Jaina threw the Frostbolt at the giant. It turned into a rotating ball of ice as it traveled to the giant, when it hit the giant froze solid.
The Water Elementals turned back into Cards and flew into Jaina´s waiting hand, she put them back into her Deck.
"Good." Griffin said as he walked over to the frozen Sea Giant. Walking over the water surrounding it. He unwrapped his right hand. Revealing that it was not normal. No, far from it. The hand, and arm by the way, was purple, the veins glowing a soft yellow.
He liad his hand on the ice that encased the giant. "You did not arrive here naturally. No, something brought you here. But what? No matter." Griffin said, puzzled by how the giant arrived in this world. He let his Void Sense reach through the various worlds within the Elysium dimension, searching for the one in which the Sea Giant belonged. "There." He said. He held is left hand out, a Card shooting out of his sleeve. Twisting Nether. Griffin laid it on the back of his exposed right hand. It glew a faint purple as the Twisting Nether's power coursed through his right arm. With a resounding fwoom a purple tear in the fabric of space and time opened within the giant itself, sending it back to it's own world. Griffin put the Twisting Nether back into the Deck which he hid in his left sleeve.
He withdrew his right hand and re-wrapped it in the magical tape that kept the rest of his right arm protected from all that is Holy.
"Done. How did you even find this place?" Griffin asked Midnight like he wasn't winded at all.
"The mind's eye is very powerful Master, I can see the power stored within the gems. See it clashing with nature. It helped that some peaceful Wisps live in this forest." Midnight said, an overwhelming calmess within her mind.
"We'll research this place tomorrow, I have to get started on dinner." Griffin replied as walked, over the water, back to the cave wall from where they arrived. Jaina was already opening the Unstable Portal.
The five of the stepped through, back to their house.
"This might not be so bad." Scarlet said with a certain amount of doubt.
"We can only wait and see, my friend." Rasputin told.